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 As it turns
out, chocolate can make you feel good even if not eaten. Under the caressing
and healing effect of chocolate your skin becomes soft, supple and acquires a
healthy luminous glow. Moreover, chocolate wrap procedure is very pleasant: the
chocolate aroma is a known mood-buster; it has a stimulating and refreshing
effect. Recently, beauty spas are increasingly offering chocolate wrap as a
therapeutic procedure which speeds up metabolism, and stimulates blood and
lymph flow. As a result, your body is detoxified and excess fluid is removed
which contributes to a healthy skin tone, reduced cellulite, and well-groomed
appearance. Therapeutic body wraps also provide a positive calming effect on
the nervous system.
Body wraps
often use various herbal essences, algae, mud, etc. Recently, to the
chocoholics' delight, chocolate body wraps are becoming increasingly popular.
Before wrapping, the skin is normally exfoliated with a variety of scrubs and soothed
with massage, which gets the skin ready for the absorption of useful
substances.
The Effect
of Chocolate Body Wrap on the Skin
The remarkable
effect of chocolate on the skin was well known to the Indians, owing to whom chocolate
has become popular in Europe. But a few centuries ago it was used only as a
beverage and an ingredient for confectionery products. More recently, a study
found cocoa powder had anti-oxidant activity somewhat greater than that of red
wine, whose mildly protective effects against heart disease are well known.
That's why chocolate is being increasingly used for cosmetic purposes. Using a
chocolate body wrap, you can calm and soothe the skin, to give the skin a
hydrated and smooth complexion. This is because it is said that the caffeine
and polyphenols are absorbed through the skin, which leads to the shedding of
those extra pounds. The shedding of extra pounds is due to the endorphins, the
special biochemical compounds that the body produces under some circumstances.
The release to these endorphins has been linked to sex, drugs and sports and
even to eating of spicy foods. They are also said to give feelings of
well-being and relaxation that tends to induce fat melting and reduce
cellulite.
The
chocolate body wrap does not contain only chocolate; the body packs usually
have a mixture of other substances like cacao extract, citric acid and
magnesium oxide. These substances, along with massage help relieve several of
the PMS symptoms that also includes sudden increase in appetite and feeling of
stress.
For the last
four years, French cosmetics companies have been actively developing new chocolate-based
beauty products (Le Fondant O Chocolat cream, La Mousee O Chocolat face masque,
Le Granit O Chocolat body scrub, etc.) which are selling just like hot cakes.
But as it
turned out, chocolate body wrap can also be performed at home, using regular
cocoa powder.
Chocolate Body
Wrap Procedure
The
chocolate body wrap has three stages. The body is first exfoliated with a cacao
bean and a sweet almond oil scrub. After the exfoliation, the body is smothered
with a chocolate cream to be wrapped in a thermal blanket to help draw
impurities from the body. You have to stay in this wrap for at least twenty minutes
wherein the blanket is removed, and the chocolate washed off using either ocean
water or fresh cenote water. After all this, chocolate cream is applied using
some really relaxing massage techniques. After the procedure, you take a shower
and have a relaxation time, as with any physical therapy procedure, and then you
can leave the spa salon.
How to Do
Chocolate Body Wrap at Home
Unfortunately,
not everyone has the time and the patience to go to the spa to get a chocolate body
wrap done. This is when you should give yourself a partial or full body wrap in
the privacy in your home with the help of home chocolate body wraps. When
applying a body wrap at home, it is necessary to choose a place in your house
where you will not be disturbed for an hour.
The next
step lies in mixing the chocolate body wrap (you can use regular cocoa powder
(without milk and sugar) with no less than 50% cocoa beans contents; for 200 grams of cocoa powder
take 0.5 liter
of hot water) and smearing in onto the body, as you would a suntan lotion. Then
the blankets have to be wrapped around your body. Sit in this wrap for half an
hour to one hour, and then when you wash yourself, you are sure to be happy
looking at your body that has become more slimmer and compact.
It is
always better to have a warm shower before applying the wrap as this opens the
pores of the body and facilitates better absorption of the body wrap. The
thermal blanket can be used to keep yourself warm if you feel cold with the chocolate
body wrap on. It is always better to drink lots of water both before and after
the body wrap helps in flushing the toxins out. It is also advisable to stay
away from caffeine, soda drinks, sugar, fried fatty foods and alcohol for 48
hours after the body wrap, to experience a better effect from the body wrap.
As you can
see, chocolate body wrap is a beneficial and enjoyable procedure.
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